Automatic feed control apparatus for separating contton from air



Dec. 17, 1935. J, MITCHELL 2,024,469

AUTOMATIC FEED CONTROL APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON FROM AIR FiledMay 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet i F/G. Z

A INVENTOR JOHN E. MITCHELL ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1935. J E MlTCHELL2,024,469

AUTOMATIC FEED CONTROL APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON FROM AIR FiledMay 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR JOHN E MITCHELL yQ QJ.

A TTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATICFEED CONTROL APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COTTON FROM AIR John E. Mitchell,Dallas, Tex.

Application May 16, 1934, Serial No. 725,994

8 Claims.

This invention relates to novel apparatus for separating cotton from airemployed for unloading by suction field cotton from a wagon, or othersource, and elevating it to cleaning and distributing machinery insidethe gin building.

The separators heretofore employed for the purposes referred to are ofvarious types and designs, but invariably employ screens in some formthrough which the air escapes, but through which the cotton cannot pass.

In ordinary separators heretofore used, there are no means whatever forcontrolling the amount of cotton unloaded, and the stream of cottonelevated from the wagon and delivered to distributor or cleaningmachinery is very irregular, varying from none at all to intermittentheavy wads or loads, which often chokes down the cleaning machinery;and, since the supply of cotton being elevated is not shut off, theseparator itself becomes badly choked and rendered inoperative, makingit necessary to remove the accumulated cotton from both cleaningmachinery and separator, which often results in serious loss of time.

The present invention is distinguished from all prior types ofseparators heretofore employed for use ahead of mechanical distributorschiefly by the fact that it automatically controls or determines therate at which cotton can be unloaded from the wagons and delivered tothe distributor, or to the cleaning machinery ahead of the distributor.

In installations where no cleaning machinery is used ahead of thedistributor, the separator is mounted directly on top of thedistributor, and

the cotton delivered from the separator is dis,

tributed to the battery of extracting and cleaning machinery mounted onthe gin stands.

In sections where very rough cotton is handled, many installations areequipped with cleaning machinery through which the cotton passes beforeit reaches the distributor. In such installations, my improved separatoris mounted on the cleaning machine, or on the first of a series ofcleaning machines, if more than one be employed, and serves to regulatethe stream of cotton passing through the cleaning machine, or machines,I

before it reaches the distributor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a receiving hopperwith perforated metal or screen walls through which the air may escape,but through which the cotton cannot pass, and

. to cause the suction, exerted in a supply conduit to draw in thecotton, to be created by withdrawing the air from the conduit throughsaid hopper, so that to the extent the hopper becomes filled withcotton, the amount of suction at the wagon or other source of supply isdecreased.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of feeding rollers,located beneath the hop- 5 per, the distance between the axes of the tworollers being at least equal to, and preferably greater than, the widthof the hopper, and being otherwise constructed to avoid compressing thecotton too much in withdrawing it from the hop- 10 per.

Another object of the invention is to provide the feeding rollers withperforated blades through which air currents can pass in reversedirections.

- A still further object is to partially enclose the feeding rollerswith circular screens, or, perforated housing members, through which airpassing in reverse directions through the perforated blades can escapefrom the inside of the machine.

As to the method, the broad idea involved consists in causing cotton tobe drawn from a source of supply through a conduit into a hopper bysuction exerted through the hopper, whereby to the extent cottonaccumulates in the hopper the power of suction in the conduit will bediminished to cause a diminution of the feed of cotton to the hopper.

Other objects of the invention relate to certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations and arrangements of parts, whereby theobjects of the invention are the more readily attained.

The invention is illustrated, as to its preferred embodiment, in theaccompanying drawings, in which: 3

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through a separator constructedaccording to my invention, showing the same mounted on, and, as to itsoperating mechanism, driven from, a conventional cotton cleaningmachine, shown diagrammatically; and

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1. 7

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral l indicates an air-tightcasing housing the main operating parts of my improved apparatus andproviding a discharge opening, 2, for cotton in its bottom.

Depending from the bottom of the casing l is a smaller casing, 3, inwhich is housed a circular chamber, 4, communicating at its upper endwith the casing I through the opening 2, and having a similar opening,5, at its lower end for the delivery of cotton either directly to adistributor, or

- 31$ shown, to a cotton cleaning machine, 6, on; 5 5

which my separating apparatus is mounted. Rotating Within the chamber 4is a rotary cotton dropper, l, of conventional design, that is to say,the blades, 1a., being provided along their outer edge with rubber orother flexible strips, 8, which in the rotation of the dropper engagethe walls 4 to form an air seal, whereby cotton passing through theopening 2 into the pockets between the blades 4 may be carried aroundand discharged through the opening 5, while air is prevented frompassing upward through said opening 5 into the separator.

The casing l is rectangular in shape, and extending centrally from endto end thereof is a hopper, 9, having perforated walls, H1. The hopper 9communicates through an opening, II, in the top of the casing with aconduit, l2, which, as usual, leads to a source of field cotton, usuallya wagon. As is well known, such conduits are provided outside of the ginhouse with a flexible extension, (not shown), which may be moved tovarious positions in the wagon to enable the cotton to be withdrawntherefrom by suction.

Rotatably mounted below the lower end of the hopper 9 are two similarcooperating feeding rollers, l3, each of which is provided with equallyspaced perforated blades, l 4. Extending outward from the lower end ofeach side of the housing 9, is a perforated housing member, l5, thesehousing members being circular in form and surrounding theouter sides ofthe feeding rollers !3, their lower ends'being suitably secured tolongitudinal frame bars, IE, to which the lower ends of the walls of thecasing l are also secured. The housing members I5 are, as shown, spacedfrom the side walls of the casing l to permit of the passage of airthrough the perforations of the housing members when suction is inducedin the air-tight casing I, as later described.

Extending from end to end of the machine on either side of the hopper 9are two imperforate, sheet-metal walls, H, which are spaced from theside walls of the hopper 9 and, at a greater distance, from the sidewalls of the casing I, each of the walls l1 being bent outwardly atright angles at its lower end to provide bottoms, l8, extending part wayonly to the side walls of the casing l, leaving a restricted opening,l9, preferably defined by a depending portion, 20, of the bottom memberl8 and the corresponding side walls of the casing I. The walls I! withtheir bottom members l8 form air chambers, 2|, extending along oppositesides of the hopper 9 from end to end of the casing l and ofsubstantially the depth of said hopper.

Suction is induced in the casing I through the medium of a suction pipe,22, having branches, 23, extending at right angles thereto andcommunicating with corresponding ends of the respective air chambers 2i.

While, as previously indicated, my separator may be mounted to deliverthe cotton directly to a conventional distributor which supplies cottonto a battery of gins, or to cotton extracting machines mounted on thegins, I have shown my apparatus as mounted on a cleaning machine 6,which is frequently interposed between the separating mechanism and thedistributor, especially where roughly harvested cotton is being dealtwith. When my improved apparatus ls-so mounted I drive the rotary cottondropper I from the shaft of the cleaning machine through the medium of abelt, 24, and one of the feeding rollers l3 from the shaft of the rotarydropper through the medium of a sprocket chain, 25,

When the cotton dropper 1 is rotated in the direction indicated by thearrow in Figure 1, the feeding rollers I3 are rotated in the directionsindicated by the arrows in said figure through the medium of a sprocketchain, 26, surrounding a sprocket wheel fast on the shaft of the drivenfeeding roller I 3 and having its lower run extending over asprccketwheel, 21, on the shaft of the companion feeding roller l3, that at theleft in Figure 1, the outer end of the sprocket chain passing over anidler pulley, 28.

This manner of driving the rotary members of the cotton separatingapparatus when the same is mounted on a cleaning machine enables me toaccomplish a very important result, namely, to automatically stop the oeration of the separator and prevent further delivery of cotton to thecleaning machine should the latter, for any reason, be stopped bybecoming choked, or, as sometimes occurs, by the passage into thecleaning mechanism of a stone, or other hard substance.

Mainly, however, my invention aims to provide for automaticallycontrolling the feed of the cotton by the separator, as will now beunderstood from the following description of the operation.

The extended end of the conduit l2 being applied to the cotton, usuallyfield cotton in a wagon, to be drawn into the apparatus, suction createdin the pipe '22 will draw air from said conduit through the perforatedwalls of the hopper 9, housing members I5, blades l4, restrictedopenings l9 and air chambers 2| into the suction pipe. insure that thesuction will be distributed uniformly over the screen surfaces and thusprevent excessive suction through any one point of the screen surfacesinside the machine. The suction thus induced in the conduit l2 will drawthe cotton into the same and through the opening I l into the perforatedhopper 9, whence it is removed uniformly by the bladed feedlng'rollersl3 and delivered to the cotton dropper I, whichin turn delivers it tothe cleaning machine 6.

duit, and then, while the mouth of the conduit i is being moved to a newposition in the wagon, very little or no cotton will be drawn in,followed by varying amounts, according'to the position of the mouth ofthe conduit relative to the cotton in the'wagon.

If at any time a larger volume of cotton is drawnthrough the conduitthan can be at once removed by the feeding rollers, this will result inthe cotton piling up in the hcpper'9 and closing off the perforations inthe walls thereof to 'the extent of the height of the cotton in thehopper, thereby diminishing the degree of suction that can be exerted inthe conduit l2 and consequently decreasing the quantity of cotton 'thatcan be drawn through said conduit. As

the cotton is removed from the hopper by the feeding rollers'the suctionin the conduit will be 'proportionately increased, permitting anincrease'in the supply of the cotton to the hopper. Thus, in the case ofan excess supply of cotton The restricted openings l9 Thefeeding rollersl3 are so proportioned, and run to the hopper, the cotton itself'servesto automatically diminish the supply, and this in subof cotton beyondwhat is needed to feed the battery of cleaning and extracting or ginningmachinery supplied by the distributor, the excess going to what is knownas the overflow at the end of the distributor. While it is necessary tohave some cotton discharged at the overflow in excess of the amountneeded to supply the machines beneath the distributor, it is, forseveral reasons, desirable to keep the quantity in the overflow as lowas possible. One of the reasons for this is that cotton being unloadedfrom wagons often catches fire through rocks or matches getting into thecotton. With a small amount of cotton in the overflow pile, it is notdifficult to extinguish the fire; whereas, with a large quantity, it isoften impossible to do so, with the result that the entire gin plant isdestroyed. According to my invention, the amount of cotton going to theoverflow can be readily controlled by the operator through merelychanging the speed of the feeding rollers.

The feeding rollers also serve the very important purpose of deliveringa uniform stream of cotton either direct to the distributor, or to thecleaning machinery, which not only prevents overloading either thedistributor or cleaning machinery, but improves the resultsobtained fromthe use of cleaning machinery by reason of the more continuous butlighter load.

With my improved feed control separator, when a heavy wad or load ofcotton is drawn into the hopper 9 the feeding rollers i3 prevent itsfalling in a body through the separator into the cleaning machinery ordistributor below; and if such heavy bodies continue to follow eachother rapidly, by reason of the cotton being unloaded too 'fast, thehopper 'will fill up and obstruct the passage of air through thescreens, thus automatically either stopping the supply of cotton, ordecreasing the rate at which the cotton can be unloaded from the wagon.

By this I prevent, or greatly reduce, the loss of time resulting fromsuch machinery becoming choked with cotton.

As additional protection against delays from shut downs, my improvedseparator, when mounted on top of cleaning machinery, is, as stated andshown, preferably driven from the cleaning machinery it supplies, sothat if the cleaning machinery chokes down for any rea son, when thecleaner stops the separator also stops, which instantly prevents anyfurther delivery of cotton to the cleaners. It is then a comparativelysimple matter to remove the foreign substance from the cleaner, and tostart in operation. again, with a minimum loss of time.

My improved feeding rollers are not only characterized by havingperforated blades, but by the fact that they are of such size and solocated with reference to the hopper, as to prevent an excessivecompression of the body of cotton in withdrawing it from the hopper.While my invention is not limited to any exact size of feeding rollers,I prefer to use, and in certain claims have specifically described,feeding rollers so positioned that the distance between their axes is atleast equal to the width of the hopper; or, as otherwise expressed, theaxes of these feeding rollers are substantially in line with the sidewalls of the hopper. This arrangement provides relatively large spacesbetween confining blades of the rollers as they rotate, which permits ofthe removal of the cotton from the hopper without undue compressionthereof.

The main purpose of having the blades of the feeding rollers perforatedis to permit air currents to pass in reverse directions through theseblades. This not only prevents decreasing the amount of suction whichmay be rendered effective in the conduit, as would result if solidblades were employed, but also decreased resistance to the movement ofthe blades, as will be under- 1 stood.

While I have illustrated and described the best embodiment of myinvention now known to me, I do not thereby intend to be limited to theexact form, arrangement or proportion of parts described, as variouschanges in, and modifications of, the construction illustrated could bemade without departing from the broad idea of my invention as outlinedin the claims following.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a pair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below thebottom of said hopper for removing regulated amounts of cottontherefrom, perforated housing members surrounding the outer sides ofsaid feeding rollers, means for creating suction in said casing andthereby withdrawing air from said conduit through the walls of saidhousing members and hopper to draw cotton into the latter, and arotatable air seal dropper for delivering the removed cotton from thecasing.

2. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a pair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below thebottom of said hopper for removing regulated amounts of cottontherefrom,

each of said rollers having perforated blades, and the axes of saidrollers being separated a distance at least equalto that of the width ofsaid hopper, perforated housing members surrounding the outer sides ofsaid feeding rollers, means for creating suction in said casing andthereby withdrawing air from said conduit through the perforations insaid housing members, blades and hopper to draw cotton into the latter,and a rotatable air seal dropper for delivering the removed cotton fromthe casing.

3. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a suction pipe communicating with the'interior of said casing, apair of feeding rollers positioned below the bottom of said hopper,perforated housing members surrounding the outer sides of said rollers,and means for removing cotton delivered by the feed rollers from saidcasing while maintaining the latter air-tight.

4. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, a

hopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a suction pipe communicating with the interior of said casing, apair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below the bottom of saidhopper and having perforated blades, perforated housing memberssurrounding the outer sides of said rollers, and means for removingcotton delivered by the feeding rollers from said casing whilemaintaining the latter air-tight.

5. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls in said casing, a conduit leading fromthe source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a suction pipe communicating with the interior of said casing, apair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below the bottom of saidhopper, each of said feeding rollers having perforated blades, and axesseparated by a distance at least equal to the width of said hopper,perforated housing members surrounding the outer sides of said feedingrollers, and means for removing cotton delivered by the feeding rollersfrom said casing while maintaining the latter air-tight.

6. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a suction pipe communicating with the interior of said casing, apair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below the bottom of saidhopper and having perforated blades, the axes of said rollers beingsubstantially in line with the walls of the hopper, perforated housingmembers extending from the lower ends or the walls of said hopper aroundthe outer sides of said feeding rollers, and means for removing cottondelivered by the feeding rollers from said casing while maintaining thelatter air-tight.

7. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by; suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing, a conduit leadingfrom the source of cotton and communicating with the upper end of saidhopper, a pair of cooperating feeding rollers positioned below thebottom of said hopper, perforated housing members surrounding the outersides of said rollers, an air chamber provided in said casing having arestricted air inlet, a suction pipe communicating with said airchamber, and means for removing cotton delivered by the feeding rollersfrom said casing while maintaining the latter air-tight.

8. Apparatus for separating air from cotton drawn by suction from asource of supply comprising, in combination, an air-tight casing, ahopper having perforated walls mounted in said casing and depending fromthe top thereof, a conduit leading from the source of cotton andcommunicating with the upper end of said hop per, a pair of cooperatingfeeding rollers positioned below the lower end of said hopper and havingperforated blades, perforated housing members surrounding the outersides of said feeding rollers, a pair of air chambers located,respectively, on opposite sides of said hopper and each having arestricted air inlet, a suction pipe communicating with said airchambers, and means for removing cotton delivered by the feeding rollersfrom said casing while maintaining the latter air-tight.

JOHN E. MITCHELL.

